Lyrics

John Farrell (Hope River Music)

C                                               F               G        C
It’s snowing! It’s snowing! The first flakes of the year

 C                                                                      G
It’s snowing! It’s snowing! Soon winter will be here

 C                                             F           G           C
It’s snowing! It’s snowing! It’s cov  er  ing the ground

      F                            C                           G                           C        C7
I hope it snows and snows all night so school will be closed down

F                                                     Em
So light the lights (light the lights) and sing the songs  (sing the songs)

          Dm        G          C
The holiday season is here

        F                                                    Em
The air is cold (The air is cold)  but our hearts are warm  (our hearts are warm)

            Dm       G                 C
This wonderful time of the year

             C                              F         G           C
The cookies are baking, the air is smelling sweet

   C                                                                          G
The first batch is cooling, soon there’ll be some to eat

             C                                          F      G          C
The chimneys are breathing their smoke into the sky

        F                             C               G                     C             C7
As flakes fall down and pile up our hopes begin to rise

 F                                                          Em
So light the lights (light the lights) and sing the songs  (sing the songs)

         Dm       G           C
The holiday season is here

        F                                                     Em
The air is cold (The air is cold)  but our hearts are warm  (our hearts are warm)

        Dm             G               C
This wonderful time of the year

C                                         F        C
A raindrop falls high in the mountains

C                                         G
It trickles on down to the stream

C                                      F        C
The stream winds its way to the river

C                     G                 C
The river rolls down to the sea

F                    C
River of Life, River of Dreams

G                      C
River of Hope, River of Peace

F                                      C
May you run strong and forever be

Dm                        G            C
A River of Love, A River of Dreams

C                                             F            C
The sun calls the water back into the clouds

C                                           G
The wind paints a masterpiece sky

C                                          F           C
A snowflake drifts down, it kisses the ground

C                       G            C
The wheel is renewed by and by

C                                           F            C
The river brings power, the river brings life

C                                               G
The river has been tainted and hurt

C                            F                   C
We can protect her if we respect her

C                         G            C
Our voices must rise and be heard

Copyright John Farrell 

C                                              G       C 
A small boy walked home one rainy Halloween

C                                                                             G
Two big kids were waiting on the dark side of the street

           F                      G                C                      A-
Those big kids came over and knocked that boy down

       F                    G                           F          G      C           C7
They took all his candy and left him there on the ground 

 F                       G                                   C
How would you feel if that happened to you

 F                        G      C
What would you say? What would you do?

F                G                 C                  A-
Stop for a minute and stand in his shoes

       F                 G                    F        G   C

How would you feel if that happened to you?

C                                                  G               C
He acted and looked so much different than us

C                                                                               G
We taunted him and teased him from the back of the bus

           F             G                   C           A-
Our laughter, it hurt, and he started to cry

          F                        G                F              G    C           C7
Our words were like stones he had no where to hide

D                               A             D
One day at school a new kid appeared

D                                                                             A
She talked kind of strange and she dressed really weird

G                                     A                   D          B-
You could tell she was scared but she tried to pretend

G                               A                   G         A       D
So I asked her her name and said, "I'll be your friend."

The song examines situations that involve bullying, teasing, and acceptance. In the first two verses children treat each other in ways that are hurtful and in the third verse a child performs a simple act of kindness by saying, "I'll be your friend.

Suggested Activities   (Themes: Teasing, Bullying, Tolerance, Empathy)

1.  Have a Class Discussion about Bullying, Teasing, and Empathy

Listen to the song and then have a discussion about how it feels when someone treats you unkindly or unfairly. Explain that the lyrics, "Stop for a minute and stand in his shoes," are a way of asking the listener to imagine how the other person feels. Children appreciate hearing adults tell about things that happened to them when they were young. Tell students that the first two verses are about things that happened to songwriter John Farrell when he was a boy. In the first verse John was "bullied." In the second verse John was one of the kids "teasing" another child.

2. Write a Letter to One of the Characters

Ask students to "stand in the shoes" of one of the characters in the song. Have students write a letter from one character to another explaining how you felt or why you are sorry.  Examples; The boy who was bullied writes to the bullies; One of the children who teased on the bus writes to the child who was teased; The new girl writes to the girl who welcomed her

Copyright Carol Johnson
On Carol's CD "Might As Well Make it Love" 
Full Sheet Music, harmonies etc in Carol's songbook
To order Carol Johnson CD's and Music go to http://www.caroljohnsonmusic.com
Also available on John's "How About You?" CD

C                  F         C
Love grows one by one

F            C           D          G 
Two by two and four by four

C                  F                  C 
Love grows ‘round like a circle

          F                  C              G                 C
And comes back knocking at your front door

G                                      C
Note by note we make a song 

G                                 C
Voice by voice we sing it 

E-                          A-                                    
Choir by choir we fill up the world 

                D7                  G
With the music that we bring it

Suggested Activity:  Everyone seems to enjoy doing the simple sign langauge   and movements that accompany this wonderful song.

Love: Make fists with your hands and fold your arms across your chest 

Grows: Place your right hand behind your left and move it upward to show growing

Round like a circle: Make a circular motion in the air with your finger 

Comes back: Gesture with hand as though calling someone back

Knocking: Move hand in air as though knocking

Door:   Place hands in front of you with palms forward. Move right thumb and hand back toward your face to signify a door opening.